Garms Holocron

one thing is certain...I have learned that Yoda was right...always in motion, the future is.

One just never knows exactly what tomorrow can bring

I have just asked to be deleted from the rolls of UJSO. There are a few things happening and others in the works that I just don't want any part of; so as of right now...TOTJO is the only Order that I have any connection with.

Perhaps without the multiple sites I will be able to pull my act together and concentrate on finishing the past projects I started and starting on a couple of others.

Thats partly why im only active on the same 'family' of sites (TOTJO/TOTJF)

some people think this the wrong attitude - but thats up to them - those of us who know what your talking about will understand 100% ad i hope I speak for us all but for myself - I stand by you 110%

MTFBWY - A

something new, over the past few weeks, meditation has been different. In past practice I have been able to achieve a calm and passive state, what I am currently experiencing is more of a heightened awareness of my immeadiate surroundings, while the calm is there I seem to pick up on the smallest of sounds(?)movement(?) around me. I find it disturbing as it is not my norm and I'm not coming away with the same \"feeling\" as before. It's not a bad feeling, just different.

wow, that is interesting. I really don't know what to say about that except do you 'feel' a presence of some sort?

Are you the same person you were yesterday? Not if you dare to contact the Force, and meditation makes that possible. Unsettling, who isn`t when they`re dancing in the dark. I don`t think I need to tell you this but familiarity needs time and above all regularity. When I read your good news, since it is a message for us all that meditation works, the first image that came to mind was a pool of water being sucked up by a sponge as soon as they make contact. I saw you a being the water and the Force sharing and giving you room. The longer the contact the more we take on the form of that sponge... Anyway congratulations Brother and keep us posted.

I just seem to pick up on the small things around me. Anora, I don't feel as if there is anything else with me at the time, I'm not particularly attuned to that sort of thing (my wifes department)but i wouldn't rule out a third party (for lack of a better term ) being there.

The bothersome thing is that I don't get into as calm a state as before, while the little things around me are more pronounced they do present a distraction of sorts. I just may need time to adjust to this 'mode'. I'll concentrate on not concentrating on returning to the old method and just let it take its course and see what happens.

just a thought Master Garm - but if you remember from Watts Psychedelic piece - there he describes a person being aware of the little things not normally taken much notice of.

Perhaps your sort of going out of yourself in a different way - your less self focused and thus 'picking up on the little things'.

Not related to meditation as such but I hope you understand the comparison - I have 3 fish tanks in my bedroom - each of which has at least 2 filters p;us air driven supplies - essentially alot of background noise. Im so attuned to the noise of each piece of equipment that I now wake up at the slightest difference in sound (usually a reduction in flow). Now all my family etc say that theyd find it impossible to get to sleep in this noise whereas Im so used to it - I don't think id sleep without it.

This last few days - weve had a little invasion of mice - and for the first time I can remember - they've gotten into my section of the house and believe it or not - I was actually 'disturbed' by the sound of a mouse easting a few stray crumbs of fish food in the dead of night.

What im saying is that one becomes used to the 'normal' noises - ie the usual 'distractions' and the mind finds new ones.

Whether or not this is good or bad is open to debate (largely on the context I guess) but as Im saying to you - perhaps your tuning into a new level - perhaps trying to fight against this is a bad idea?

MTFBWY - A

I'm going to just let it be and become one with this, at least for awhile (like I'm really able to change it anyways :laugh:) like your background noise, I suspect that I will become accustomed to this new way in time.

For some reason, your dream about the stream and the rocks comes to mind. You were speaking about the force of water moving the rocks of our awareness crerating new expressions. It was a very enlightening, yet beautifully simple metaphor. Thank you for sharing.

As you said yourself in another post Master Garm - diversions are put in our paths for a reason that are not always clear at the time

If all else fails - Im sure there are prescription drugs for this

MTFBWY - A

i know it's been a while since the last post on this thread but i have a suggestion if you're still having difficulty with adjusting to the previously unnoticed sounds during meditation... find a good sized closet that is unused and meditate inside it with the lights off while wearing earplugs/muffs and blindfold...it sounds odd but works similarly to a sensory deprivation tank. by cutting off the physical senses you leave your mind with itself for company. this can allow you to take control of it. gradually remove the blindfold, then earplugs, then turn on the light and finally exit the chamber... by the end you'll be able to turn off your physical senses at will and this will allow you to meditate no matter whats going on around you.

on the opposite end you can overload your meditation space with ambient sounds and practice blocking them out one by one until they are all silent. both techniques work. which one is best depends on the individual. personally i use both depending upon the moment.

consider this thought i got from philosophy class: the river we step in today is not the same river we stepped in yesturday,nor will it be the same tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions RyuJin, they are all useful. about two weeks ago my meditation practice more or less returned to it's prior state and the period of increased sensitivity has passed. Why I experienced the change is unknown. I'm of the mind to not dwell too much on it though and move on...breath...smile, all is good

it may be possible that the increased sensativity was due to coinciding with a particular lunar or celestial alignment, ie a full or new moon...or similar event

it has been proven that humans tend to be affected by various moon phases, for example starting 2 days before a full moon i am unable to sleep at all until 2 days after the apex...during this time i tend to have a heightened awareness to my environment, which also makes it difficult for me to focus and sometimes i'll find myself sitting outside staring at the moon for hours with no thoughts at all.

The force works in strange ways.

As you may know, I have a passion for restoring old cars. My current project is a ’76 Camaro RS that my wife picked up about ten years ago. I grew up in a family of gear heads (petrol heads for you Rich)
My dad currently owns and maintains a ’47 Monarch split-window Coupe, a ’68 Cadillac convertible and a ’86 Corvette convertible. My past stuff includes a couple of late 60’s firebirds, '80 Z28 and a ’7l Chevelle SS.

With my wife’s car nearing completion, I’m looking out for my next project car. I’ve decided to go with either a late 70’s Mercedes SL convertible or a late 80’s Porsche 944 or 928. Having spun wrenches on many American autos I thought some experience on something else would be fun. (Don’t read too much into this folks, either of these cars can be had in the $1000 to $4000 range in good condition with some TLC required-it is a hobby ).

So I’m in the market and I’ve been looking and tire kicking, surfing the net and reading up since I know very little of these types of cars right…now here’s where the force provides…

My office hires a new fellow, Mike. Well we get talking and he has rebuilt and daily (summer) drives his hobby…a ‘86 Porsche 944. He has owned it for six years and has in the past week shared such a wealth of hands on experience like his rebuild pictures, what to look out for, where in Toronto to get and not get parts those sort of things. A month ago I was blind going into this venture, and today I have access to real experience (and great stories) only two desks down.

Coincidence?

In my experience I have found things like this can happen all the time.

Bloody good timing tho'

nice car collection....i have a few good ones myself my baby is a 1966 dodge w200 power wagon panel van which was a retired air force ambulance, and converted to 4wd...it has a wedge 413 with a 650cfm holley 4bbl dbl pumper, dual flowmaster exhaust 4.11 gears behind a rockwell 4spd manual trans....14 inches of lift sitting on 39x15 mickey thompson baja tires...me and my dad spent 2 years restoring it...it's still not finished,after a dmv search we found out that only 100 were left in the u.s. and in the last 15 years only 2 have been registered...i also have a 1990 25th anniversary mustang lx 5.0, my brother in law has a 1967 mustang coupe and he just sold a 1932 pontiac 2dr coupe, we also have a 1989 nissan 300zx with a mustang 5.0 motor in it..it spits 3foot flames out the exhaust tips fully loaded t-tops, leather interior and power everything...we put a looooot of work into getting that motor installed and keeping the car looking stock....

it is true the force does work in unique ways...my family always panics about things and never understand why i don't ...i've found that if you have a little patience things work themselves out so there's no need to panic

My next door neighbours had a 944 porshe - and some firebirds and some trans-am

I know what a gear head is btw - and a young version is a 'boy racer' 9the type who buys a VW golf for £600 and then spedns £2000 making the sound system loud and adding shiney rims etc )

Oh - my mom is a nightmare at traffic lights to these kids - she likes to beat them off the start in her 02 Honda Accord VTEC

Ive seen many a blushing face bowed in shame thru the rear view

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: rofl go mom...
i used to do that with my 89 nissan silvia when i had it shipped to the states after i got out of the military...the best was when i beat my friend in his '96 mustang cobra....that and the numerous speeding tickets i got out of cuz the cops weren't allowed to break 100 mph and i could do 145 in 4th gear

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

as Sammy Hagar sings...

go on & write me up for 125, post my face wanted dead or alive, take my license n' all that jive, I can't drive 55!